rewrite this title Springboks make fast start against Scotland – live

What a start from the Springboks! With advantage coming, Handre Pollard goes to his bag, pulling out an iron and measuring his approach beautifully. His crossfield clip is perfectly weighted for Makazole Mapimpi to gather and gallop into the corner. Five minutes, five points.

Mbonambi is on the money again and here comes the drive, Scotland initially strong but penalised once more. Advantage coming as South Africa look to spread it…

Van der Merwe kicks to touch and South Africa will play from just inside the Scottish half. Bongi Mbonambbi hits his first lienout and then it is over to the burly men, centre Andre Esterhuizen carrying in a forthright manner.

Scotland make a mess of a ruck legally, but then infringe as they try to further slow the Springboks’ ball. To the corner the visitors go.

Handre Pollard’s first high hoist is shallower than the fly half would have liked, but Canan Moodie wins it back, the youngster showing off the athleticism that so caught the eye when he made his debut a couple of years ago. Pollard’s next kick is flatter and more angled, trying to find space in behind Duhan van der Merwe, who does well to retreat and claim the mark on the slide.

A blast of Christophe Ridley’s whistle and we are underway in Edinburgh.

Here we go, South Africa in their familiar colours, Scotland in their change strip which fades from light blue to white.

A wonderful rendition of “Flower of Scotland” follows the South African national anthem, tears in the eyes of plenty on the Murrayfield pitch.

Kwagga Smith leads South Africa out on the occasion of his 50th cap, a double World Cup winner and former sevens star never perhaps hitting the headlines but such a vital piece off the bench for a long period. A rare start at number eight for him today.

The rest of the two sides follow along behind him. It’s a gorgeous November day in Edinburgh.

It’s worth mentioning that while South Africa came out on top eventually in Marseille last year, the Scottish scrum made a couple of first-half statements to keep that World Cup game very, very tight. Pierre Schoeman seems to go under the radar a bit but he’s one of the most consistent looseheads on the planet. His set-piece contest with Thomas du Toit, in flying form for Bath but not necessarily a Springboks regular, should be really, really fun.

It’s been a weekend to forget for the Northern Hemisphere, their southern foes taking all four of the cross-equator clashes so far, including Fiji so brilliantly and maturely in Cardiff just a few minutes ago. New Zealand in Dublin, Australia at Twickenham, Argentina in Udine – can Scotland prevent a clean sweep?